Enhancing Written Communication Skills

Enhancing Written Communication Skills through a Writing Center

A Writing Center merges two important theoretical perspectives on writing instruction: 1) that writing is most usefully viewed as a process, and, 2) that writing needs to be student-centered, not faculty centered. That is, a Writing Center is not a response to faculty needs, or a substitution for faculty teaching. The goal for establishing a Writing Center is to serve all students on campus by creating an environment where we replace the hierarchical model of teachers and students with a collaborative model of co-learners engaged in a shared activity of intellectual work.

Accomplishments

Hired and trained six graduate and undergraduate tutors.

Conducted 959 thirty- to forty-minute conferences for students across campus in all disciplines. 213 of those 959 consultations were return visits.

Established a return rate of 22% for FY08. Expanded services on Saturday in the College of Education in September 2008.